sometime i like to mimic the wife by referring to my self as ข่อย khaawyL which is "me" or "I" in Issan.

but when i say it, apparently it sounds like a certain female body part and my wife either laughs or looks shocked and tells me never to say it again!

do you have any dangerous to mispronounce words?

sometime i like to mimic the wife by referring to my self as ข่อย khaawyL which is "me" or "I" in Issan.

but when i say it, apparently it sounds like a certain female body part and my wife either laughs or looks shocked and tells me never to say it again!

do you have any dangerous to mispronounce words?

i mix กล้วย (banana) and ควย(means phallus, in a vulgar way !)

sometime i like to mimic the wife by referring to my self as ข่อย khaawyL which is "me" or "I" in Issan.

but when i say it, apparently it sounds like a certain female body part and my wife either laughs or looks shocked and tells me never to say it again!

do you have any dangerous to mispronounce words?

I thought 'khoi' in Laos (' โฃ่ย ' or ' โคย ' - not exactly sure how it would be spelt in Thai) refers to the male organ and maybe this is why your wife finds it so funny. Just don't round your mouth when you say it.

thai and laos alphabets are quite similar, some letters have the same shape but are pronounced differently. i remember someone telling me if a laotion was to read the thai word for buffalo ควาย (kwaai) they would pronounce it as ควย (kuai) - this word is considered vulgar and should be used with great care.

incidently the thai word for banana กล้วย (gluai) is also slang for the same body part.

Another chance is that the bad pronounciation of ข่อย khaawy(L) (I, me in Isaan dialect) will result to sound as เคย kheeuy(M) which in Southern dialect slang refers to female genital organ.

There a lot of words that are dangerous when pronounced incorrectly, and my guess is that thai people sometimes are very comprehensives and patients with me when I try to speak thai

i am surprised no one has mentioned the thai word for snow yet.

just make sure to pronounce it with 2 short vowels and not 2 long vowels.

In front of one of my university students at a restaurant, I loudly told the waitress that I didn't want a vagina in my pork noodles. The restaurant fell silent.

I had said "tahd" (vagina) instead of "tahb" (liver).

After a brief blush, she readily agreed to make my wishes known in the kitchen.

When the noodles came, they had liver in them, but no vagina. My student quietly informed me of my mistake after we left, and I made a quiet decision never to return to that restaurant again. Yeah, you can call it "saving face."

Edited April 7, 200818 yr by toptuan

i am surprised no one has mentioned the thai word for snow yet.

just make sure to pronounce it with 2 short vowels and not 2 long vowels.

I was going to, as I did exactly that once.

be careful not to mix the vowels when you pronounce หู (huu) หมี (mii) - bear's ear.

be careful not to mix the vowels when you pronounce หู (huu) หมี (mii) - bear's ear.

What about speaking to a คนขายตั๋ว (kon kăai dtŭa > ticket seller/booking clerk) and calling her/him คนขายตัว ( kon kăai dtua > prostitute)?

And one that most of us have probably mispronounced at least one time is

ซวย suay(M) (unlucky ; bad) when we meant สวย suay® (beautiful)

Surely here the women are more keen to be comprehensive

^ I think that's the first non-naughty example in this thread so far!

I was just thinking that this thread could lead us a little bit to far

The 'fox-pawz' I have committed whilst trying to communicate with the thais is endless, and could fill volumes.

As a whole I have seen them take it fairly tongue in cheek and well in stride; at least acknowledging a foreigner is attempting to communicate with them in their native language.

The ticket seller example is classic. Now I purposely overemphasize the word for ticket to make sure it is correctly understood.

I remember getting 'horse riding' wrong once. Hint: change the first tone to falling and the second to rising.

hahaha... dog poo..

might also want to make an effort to pronounce เมือง (city) correctly so it doesn't come out like มึง (impolite "you"). Not that vulgar, but still not very nice.

Apparently this error is fairly common as well: ขอตด rather than ขอโทษ

Edited April 8, 200818 yr by withnail

The next time someone tells you that you are forgetful: "ขี้ลืม"

Quickly reply: "ใช่ แต่ไม่ลืมขี้" with a smirk on your face.

i am surprised no one has mentioned the thai word for snow yet.

just make sure to pronounce it with 2 short vowels and not 2 long vowels.

I was going to, as I did exactly that once.

for those of you not getting this one (including myself until i asked the wife), hee maa (long vowel) is horse appendage.

Litterally, it means funnel - like tool used to facilitate pouring liquid into a bottle.

ควย(means phallus, in a vulgar way !)

^As far as I know, that word is กรวย kruay ...?

I would strongly advice against using the word referring to the penis, as it is the rudest one of the bunch, and may easily make you come across as the top of the object in question even if used inadvertently.

speaking of the word กรวย, I have this little inside joke with my buddy to whom I often give a ride home, as she lives near me.

There was this one time I nearly hit a cone, you know, one of those orange thingies they put on the road, for which the word กรวย is also used. I don't remember the exact circumstances, just that seem to appear out of nowhere in the middle of the road, so I had to swerve to miss it, calling out "ไอ้กรวยเอ๊ย!" which, although literally meaning "you <deleted>' cone!", is very similar to another sentence that basically means "you <deleted>' d***head!" (just substitute the กรวย with the penis word )

My dear friend found this hilarious, so now every time I'm driving and we come across a cone on the street, she'll point out to it and we'll shout out "ไอ้กรวย!" Luckily it's always just the two of us ladies in the car.

Edited April 11, 200818 yr by siamesekitty

Hi kitty, what does เอ๊ย mean? I've seen a varying explanations in dictionaries.

hmm.. tough word to explain.

เอ๊ย doesn't really mean anything on its own, it's mostly just to place emphasis on the sentence. It often gives serves to convey a sense of either "oh my goodness!" or "dammit!", or something akin to a heavy sigh

a very appropriate one for today:

สงคราม sohngR khraamM = War

สงกรานต์ sohngR graan[d] = Songkran, Thai New Year

actually, Songkran is war sometimes.

hmm.. tough word to explain.

เอ๊ย doesn't really mean anything on its own, it's mostly just to place emphasis on the sentence. It often gives serves to convey a sense of either "oh my goodness!" or "dammit!", or something akin to a heavy sigh

Thanks.

I saw some examples where it seems to be used when someone make a verbal mistake eg: ไม่มีปัญญา เอ๊ยไม่ใช่ ไม่มีปัญหา

Your cone example adds to the understanding.

hmm.. tough word to explain.

เอ๊ย doesn't really mean anything on its own, it's mostly just to place emphasis on the sentence. It often gives serves to convey a sense of either "oh my goodness!" or "dammit!", or something akin to a heavy sigh

Thanks.

I saw some examples where it seems to be used when someone make a verbal mistake eg: ไม่มีปัญญา เอ๊ยไม่ใช่ ไม่มีปัญหา

Your cone example adds to the understanding.

Actually, the usage in the two situations is a bit different.

In the cone situation, เอ๊ย was tacked on at the end of the sentence, to show my annoyance. In such cases, the meaning would be along the lines of "You ___!" or "That ____!"

It can also be used with friends or loved ones to express a frustration with something else, in order to... I dunno, elicit sympathy? eg. "คิตตี้เอ๊ย... พี่เบื่อหัวหน้ามากเลย... blah blah blah..."

As for the เอ๊ย in the example you mention, it would be เอ๊ย! as an exclamation, meaning "Oops!" or "- I mean ..." and actually it's more of an "เอ้ย!" sometimes.

P.S. The two also sound different.

เอ๊ย in the first case has a longer sound, often dragged out to add emphasis: "ไอ้โง่เอ๊ยยยย!" ("You idiottttt!")

เอ๊ย (or เอ้ย or เฮ้ย) in the second case, which is an exclamation, is said very quickly and spontaneously interjected into the sentence as an "um" or an "oops" would be: "คุณคิตตี้ครับ คุณนี่ซวย เอ้ย! สวยจริงๆนะครับ" ("Khun Kitty krub, you are so suay (unlucky) - oops! I mean, suay (beautiful) na krub".)

Edited April 14, 200818 yr by siamesekitty

Thanks. Seem to be quite a few other UH-EE's too เช่น เอย เอ่ย เอ๋ย, all with different meanings. Confusing!